Intense Mudvayne Will Help 'Heavy Music' Kids Do The Math

NIGHTLIFE

September 22, 2000|by JOHN TERLESKY (A free-lance story for The Morning Call).

Some members of the industrial-metal band Mudvayne recently had to visit a hospital emergency room for treatment of damaged vocal cords, the result of a combination of the rigors of life on the road, communal colds and, well, a lot of screaming.

Anyone who has heard the Peoria, Ill., foursome's major-label debut, `L.D. 50` (Epic), will understand why a little throat spray might be in order. Abrasive tracks with titles such as `Death Blooms,` `Severed` and `Internal Primates Forever` feature vocals that could corrode steel at 200 yards, the better to complement a similarly brutal instrumental attack.

The disc received a three-star rating in a recent issue of Rolling Stone, as part of a feature review on `heavy music` bands that included Disturbed, Relative Ash and Soulfly, all of which are fueled by a like pairing of amps and angst.

But Mudvayne's drummer, who goes by the tag sPaG, doesn't necessarily believe the act's fearsome din can be equated with simple anger.

`That's a typical attitude that people take just because our band is heavy,` explains the well-spoken, 32-year old percussionist from a Pittsburgh hotel. `I see it more as intensity, passion. I don't see us being in any way as aggressive or angry as, say, Slipknot.`

sPaG was referring to the Iowa-based band that shares Mudvayne's tendency toward the musically corrosive, as well as wearing elaborate costumes and make-up on stage. The groups toured together this summer, and Slipknot percussionist Shawn Crahan is listed as executive producer on `L.D. 50.`

To even seasoned rock ears the two midwestern assault combos might seem practically interchangeable, products of the same melting pot that boiled down the mutant pose of Slayer, the grim smarts of Tool and the theatrical flair of Marilyn Manson.

But sPaG insists that Mudvayne, which will headline an all-ages show Tuesday night at Crocodile Rock Cafe in Allentown, possesses enough diversity to stand out from its piercing peers, hard as it may be to hear over all the yelling.

`Yes, there is anger and intensity,` he allows, `but I think we stand out from a lot of metal bands because we express other emotions, too. That's something we want to focus on more. We want to move into a space where we can embody more human experience emotionally. And that's not something I hear a lot of heavy bands talking about.`

To the Mudvayne's credit, `L.D. 50` does contain its share of distinguishing marks, from samples of mind-expansion guru Terrence McKenna, to some Middle-Eastern motifs, overlapping time signatures and actual sung melodies. Amid the six-string barrage and such hoarse demands as `Let me help you tie the rope around your neck` from front man Kud, these relative subtleties make a case for what sPaG calls `math metal,` an attempt to fuse the id of time-honored heavy metal rutting with a guiding superego that has a little more on its mind than Limp Bizkit's `Nookie.`

Whether or not any high concepts should actually trickle down to the (mostly) male audience that fills the pits at Mudvayne shows is almost beside the point to sPaG and his cohorts. Ultimately they are shredding their lungs for themselves.

`Overall, when it comes down to the songs, we're not really thinking about our audience,` he admits. `It's even exclusive to the point where it's very self-reflecting. It's very exciting for people to tap into it and to appreciate what we do -- I love that. But that's not the main motivation for what we do.`

Regardless of impetus, the most obvious byproduct of Mudvayne's collective catharsis is the kind of malevolent, grinding roar that renders more refined considerations irrelevant, particularly to someone who probably had quite enough `math` in school that day.

`Any kid could tap into the groove-oriented heaviness, the riffs, the power,` sPaG acknowledges. `You don't have to understand musical theory or whatever, or even the cerebral aspects of what we do to appreciate that, and to get off on it.`

Mudvayne will perform at an all-ages show Tuesday night at Crocodile Rock Cafe, 520 Hamilton St., Allentown. Doors will open at 8 p.m. and the music will begin about 9:30 p.m. Relative Ash, One Minute Silence and Type 14 will open. Tickets: $7 in advance, $9 day of show. 610-434-4600.